Trevor Noah, South Africa

Trevor Noah

The usual rule is that if a country plays rugby and cricket, it's likely to produce standup comics, so it's weird that South Africa has been under-represented on the international comedy stage, especially when you consider that so many great acts have come out of Australia and New Zealand. But Trevor Noah is changing people's perceptions of South African humour, and looks to have every chance of becoming a serious global player. His combination of terribly polite, butter-wouldn't-melt stage presence and biting, often brutal gags has already made him a star in his home country, where he's had his own TV shows and plays to packed houses. Yet he's increasingly making a splash in the States and over here: this summer, he made his Edinburgh fringe debut with financial backing from Eddie Izzard, and was one of the most talked-about acts at the festival.

Vivek Mahbubani, Hong Kong

Photograph: Long Guan

There's going out on a limb, and then there's setting up the TakeOut Comedy Club. The Hong Kong venue believes it was the first full-time comedy club in the entire Asian continent, and it's devoted to nurturing local talent. Probably the finest act they've unearthed so far is web designer and heavy metal drummer-turned-comic Vivek Mahbubani. You'd struggle to find a better embodiment of the comedy global village than Mahbubani, an Indian comedian who performs in Cantonese and English (though not usually in the same set). His shtick is heavily American-influenced – with more than a touch of Jerry Seinfeld – but it's filtered through the highly unusual perspective of a performer drawing on three different cultural inheritances.

Danilo Gentili, Brazil

Photograph: Karina Santiago

Standup is booming in Brazil, with new comics and clubs emerging all the time across the country. At the vanguard of all this is Danilo Gentili, a straight-talker who deals in blunt home truths about the state of Brazilian politics. As the host of Agora é Tarde (It's Too Late), he slams the country's leaders and subjects hapless politicos to uncomfortable and inventive questioning. With his stubble, baseball cap and habitual bleary-eyed look, he's like a shabbier version of The Daily Show's Jon Stewart. His approach isn't always subtle, sometimes abusing the powers that be in terms that would make Frankie Boyle blanch – as when he suggested the Brazilian president, a former victim of brutal state torture, had brought it upon herself – but it's won him a considerable domestic following among those who find his uncompromising style a breath of fresh air.

Fahad Albutairi, Saudi Arabia

Photograph: La Yekthar Show

According to Fahad Albutairi, when he tells people he's a Saudi standup, their first reaction is, "Ha ha … wait, what?" But despite his country's chequered reputation when it comes to freedom of expression, he and a few like-minded acts have managed to set up something of a homegrown comedy scene. While Albutairi – who, with his nerdish manner, would be ideal casting for an Arabic Big Bang Theory – sometimes performs live, he does most of his best stuff on YouTube under the banner of La Yekthar Show. Whether by choice or by necessity, he doesn't deal much with politics or human rights issues, trading instead in more lighthearted observational material. Though it might not be the most groundbreaking stuff, it's a promising harbinger of things to come.

Daniel Simonsen, Norway

Photograph: Scott Campbell/Getty

Young Norwegian rising star Dan Simonsen exemplifies another type of international comic: the act who's moved abroad to make his name due to a lack of recognition at home. Frustrated with the limited scope of the stand-up scene in Norway, Simonsen moved to London a few years back and instantly started to make a big impact on the UK circuit. He's made appearances on Russell Howard's Good News, and picked up a much-deserved nomination for Best Newcomer at this summer's Edinburgh fringe. His deadpan comedy is rooted in the fact that he's a perpetual outsider, not just as a Norwegian in the UK, but as a natural oddball whose reactions to the world around him are always at right angles to other people's. A properly funny young comic with the potential for mass appeal, Norway's loss is our gain.

Helen Paul, Nigeria

Helen Paul

There's a lot of comic creativity in Nigeria, and mischievous Helen Paul is one of its most unusual and arresting performers. While she spends much of her time presenting glitzy TV shows and talent contests like a sort of Nigerian Holly Willoughby, Paul's real skills emerge when she adopts the guise of Tatafo, an endlessly curious, deeply peculiar child whose innocent observations cut the adult world down to size. Giggling, kissing her teeth and shrilly telling her audience what she thinks about religion, politics and modern society, Paul uses Tatafo as a battering ram of broad comedy that allows her to smuggle in intelligent comment on serious issues. It's an act that makes most sense to her home crowd, but Paul's obvious skills and seemingly innate ability to entertain mean she could certainly find an appreciative international audience.

Anatol Durbala, Moldova

Photograph: www.moldovansmovie.com

If we think about Moldova at all, it's probably as one of those tiny impoverished former Iron Curtain countries that we only usually hear about when they're being thrashed by England at football. The big surprise about the movie version of Tony Hawks's Playing The Moldovans At Tennis was that the stand-out comic performance came not from British veteran Hawks, but courtesy of Moldovan comic Anatol Durbala. Playing surly, neurotic interpreter Iulian, Durbala added extra comic value to every scene in which he appeared, like an eastern European Kevin Eldon or Bill Bailey. Back home in Chisinau, he's properly famous as the star of Ora De Ras (Laugh Hour), a kind of Moldovan Saturday Night Live. Durbala's fiercely proud of his home country, but if there's any justice, the acting chops he displayed in Hawks's film will win him a much bigger profile internationally.

Rahmens, Japan

In Japan, sketch comedy is much bigger than standup, and few acts come much bigger – in a number of senses – than double-act Rahmens, a kind of Tim & Eric for the sushi set. Jin Katagiri (longer, frizzier hair, slightly away with the fairies) and Kentaro Kobayashi (shorter hair and more self-consciously hip) have been working together for over a decade, honing their unique comic chemistry. Their best stuff is all about spoofing Japanese culture, and while that could be alienating to an international audience, the energy and all-round silliness with which they conduct themselves overcomes the cultural barriers. Their iconic status back home was cemented once and for all when Apple picked them for the Japanese "I'm a PC, and I'm a Mac" adverts. That said, they're a much more out-there proposition than Mitchell and Webb.